A Day With Ayame and Suzume
by Swordmaiden007
Summary: When Kaoru goes out of the dojo for the day, she leaves the two adorable girls with Kenshin. Kenshin's seemingly relaxing day turns into a hectic one, however, as he scrambles to keep them happy and out of trouble.


Disclaimer: All of these characters are rightfully owned by Nobuhiro Watsuki. I was not creative enough to come up them first.

**Author's Note: He has not yet learned the Amaka Keruryu No Hiromeki**

Kenshin snapped the white sheet in satisfaction, droplets of water flicking into the air.

"Nice and clean!" he announced.

"Nice and clean! Nice and clean!" Ayame and Suzume said in unison, following their usual routine.

He chuckled as he folded the sheet carefully and stacked it onto the growing pile next to him.

"Hey, Kenshin!"

He straightened up and looked at Kaoru.

"I'm going to spend the day with Tae but I'll be back this evening, alright?" she asked, waving her handbag at him as she walked towards the dojo doors.

"Alright, Miss Kaoru!" he called, picking up another dirty sheet.

"Oh, and Kenshin?" She stopped as she stood in front of the door. "Ayame and Suzume will be spending the night here tonight. So make sure they get to bed early." She smiled. "And don't wear him out too much, girls!"

"We won't!" they called, waving to her as she slipped past the dojo doors.

Kenshin watched as the girls eagerly waited for him to finish scrubbing so that they could help him proclaim the cleanliness of the sheet. He shook his head at the thought of Ayame and Suzume making him tired. He had withstood more wearying things than watching two little girls for an afternoon.

"Hurry up, Uncle Ken!" Ayame pressed him, leaning over the tub. "You said that you would play with us."

"Just a moment." He lifted the sheet and snapped it, making the girls laugh with delight. "Nice and clean!"

"Nice and clean! Nice and clean!"

"How many more do you have to wash?" Ayame asked. Suzume tried to sit on her lap, but she pushed her away. Suzume plopped down on the ground, her lip poking out as she pouted.

"One more," Kenshin said, scrubbing away. He noticed a dark stain on the side of it and began rubbing it harder. He lifted it to examine it.

"Nice and clean!" cried Suzume.

"No, not nice and clean!" said Ayame impatiently. "You got it wrong, Suzume. He's not done yet."

Again, Suzume pouted, folding her arms crossly.

"This one is almost finished," Kenshin reassured her, scrubbing furiously at the stubborn stain.

"Ayame, go play! Go play!" Suzume tugged at Ayame's sleeve insistently. "Go play now!"

"Suzume!" Ayame yanked her arm away and scooted closer to Kenshin. "We have to wait until Uncle Ken is done! Go away!"

Kenshin looked up from his cleaning, alarmed to see Suzume's eyes filled with tears. She opened her mouth and let out a high-pitched wail.

"Suzume, what's wrong?" he asked, lifting his hands out of the tub.

"Waaaaaaaah! Ayame no like meeeeeeeeee!" Suzume howled. Ayame turned away sulkily, not looking at her.

"Ayame likes you, that she most certainly does!" he said, standing up, his hands dripping with water. He looked around for something to dry his hands on, but there were only the newly cleaned sheets. He looked down at his gi ruefully. He had washed it only yesterday.

He began to shake the water of his hands, water droplets and suds flinging through the air. Suzume blinked as they landed on her face. She screamed even louder as suds got in her eyes.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Uncle Ken hurt meeeeeeee!" she bawled, rubbing her face.

"This one is sorry, Suzume!" Sighing, he rubbed his damp hands across his gi and bent down to scoop her up. But he stumbled over Ayame, who still hadn't moved from her spot, hitting her on the head with his knee.

"Ow!" she cried as she too burst into tears. "That hurt! Waaaaaaaaaaah!"

Kenshin quickly bent down and picked up the crying Suzume. "Nice and clean?" he asked, tickling her under her chin, managing to get a laugh out of her. But Ayame sobbed all the louder.

"Uncle Ken, do you like Suzume more than me?" she cried, the tears running down her cheeks.

"Of course not!" Shifting Suzume to one hip, he picked up Ayame with his other arm. The two of them sniffled together, snuggling against his chest, still glaring at each other. Thunder rumbled above their heads and rain started to pelt the ground.

"Let's go inside and play," he said cheerfully, walking up the steps to the dojo, feeling relieved that they had stopped crying, even if the sky had just decided to.

He went to the training room and set both of them down. He returned from his room with a paper ball and tossed it to Ayame. She let it fall in front of her, not even making an attempt to catch it.

"I don't wanna play with a ball," she said, kicking to Suzume.

"I don't wanna play with a ball," Suzume mimicked, squashing the ball under her little feet.

Kenshin picked up the crumpled ball and stared at it glumly. He had meant to paint cherry blossoms on it and Yahiko was going to give it to Tsubame for her birthday.

_Not now, it would seem. _

"I'm hungry, Uncle Ken!" Ayame said, twirling her hair in her fingers.

"Me too! Me hungry!" said Suzume, wrapping her arms around his legs.

"But you already ate lunch, that you did," he reminded them.

"I'm still hungry," Ayame persisted stubbornly.

"Snack!" Suzume cried.

"Alright," he sighed, going towards the kitchen with Suzume still attached to one leg. "Snack time."

As the girls munched happily on rice balls, Kenshin sighed even heavier as he realized that he had left the laundry out in the rain.

"This one will be right back," he called as he opened the shoji door and stepped outside.

The rain began to soak him as he gathered the used-to-be-clean sheets and placed them on the platform. He tipped the tub over to let the sudsy water run out, knowing that the rain would wash the soap away.

"Kenshin!"

He looked up as the dojo doors opened and Sano came bounding in, the rain making his hair cling to his forehead.

"There's something going on in the street," he said breathlessly. "Something to do with a guy named Hiko Seijuro."

"The master?" Kenshin asked, completely surprised. "What's he doing in Tokyo?"

"Getting drunk! He's challenging every policeman to a duel!" Sanosuke waved his arms for emphasis. "You need to come deal to him."

"I'm on it." Kenshin's eyes instantly turned golden with Battousai intensity. He turned and ran into the dojo, Sano right behind him. He snatched up his sakabatou and strapped it on, feeling the frightening urge to kill someone.

As they ran back outside, towards the gates, a little voice called out, "Hey, Uncle Ken! Uncle Ken! We're done now!"

Kenshin stopped in his tracks, his eyes returning to his usual rurouni purple.

"What are you doing?" Sano asked, opening the doors. "Come on!"

"This one can't go," Kenshin said, looking towards Ayame and Suzume, who stood on the platform, watching him.

"Why?"

"This one is watching the girls for the day."

"So leave them here for a few minutes," Sano said, grabbing his arm. "We have to go!"

"Sorry," Kenshin said miserably. "You go and try to sober him up. But watch out for his Kuzu Ryu Sen. It's pretty lethal."

"Yeah, you would know," muttered Sano. "I can't believe this." He went out of the dojo doors and shut it with an angry bang behind him.

Kenshin walked back towards the dojo, his shoulders slumped.

"Uncle Ken, were you going to leave without us?" Ayame scolded as he came up the steps.

"Go bye-bye!" said Suzume.

Kenshin couldn't help but glance at the both of them irritably as he went inside, soaking wet. "Come on, you two," he said over his shoulder. "Back inside."

"Nice and clean! Nice and clean!" he heard Suzume cry in a distraught voice. He turned to see her running out into the rain after a sheet that he must have forgotten in the courtyard. Mud splattered up under her stumbling footsteps as she ran towards it.

"Suzume! Wait!" Ayame called, following her sister. But she tripped and fell face flat into the mud.

Suzume retrieved the muddy sheet and held it up. "Nice and clean, Uncle Ken!"

Kenshin moaned as the two of them walked back to the dojo platform. The front of Ayame's kimono was covered in mud, not to mention her face. Suzume had spattered mud onto her legs as she had been running and rainwater dripped from her wet hair.

"Here." Suzume handed him the sheet triumphantly. Ayame just scowled at her dirty kimono.

"Oh, you need baths," he sighed for the fourth time that day, looking down at the disheveled girls. "Follow me."

The rain was letting up as they marched towards the bathhouse, towels in hand, and the sun was starting to peek from behind the gray clouds. He wondered if Sano was doing all right, taking on Hiko alone. He would probably come home bruised and bloodied, maybe with a broken bone or two, but at least his interference with his fists would knock some of the sake's influence out of his master's brain.

As he began building a fire from underneath the hut, he heard Ayame and Suzume go inside and giggle as they jumped into the water. He was just thankful that he had had the sense to fill the tub with water earlier that day. True, that bath was going to be meant for him, but…so is the life of a rurouni.

"Dirty! Dirty!" he heard Suzume chirp as the splashing continued.

"Stop it, Suzume!" Ayame's voice sounded cross. What was wrong with her today, he wondered. She was usually in such a good temper.

"The birds sing…on the chewwy bwossom twee…" Suzume's little voice sang happily.

Kenshin added more wood to the fire as he listened to her singing. He couldn't help but smile as she sang loudly, "Uncle Ken…sing in the chewwy bwossom twee…"

Her song died out into murmured words as he listened to her move around in the water. He leaned against the wall of the bathhouse and wiped away the sheen of sweat that was forming on his forehead from being so near the fire. Again, his mind wandered to what Sano must be doing at the moment. He also wondered why Hiko would have come to Tokyo. Sano was going to be angry with him for a while, for staying behind to watch the girls. But what else could he have done?

He paused for a moment and listened. All was quiet inside of the bathhouse.

"Ayame?" he called.

No answer.

"Suzume…"

Silence.

Suddenly, there was a scream, high pitched and terrified. Kenshin immediately ran to the door of the bathhouse, but when he yanked on the handle, he found that it was locked from the inside.

The screaming continued. Kenshin drew his sakabatou.

"Hiten Mitsurugi Style…Ryutsuisen Zan!" he roared as he stabbed downward towards door with his sword. If he could hit it in just the right place…

The door shattered into thousands of splinters. The screaming stopped abruptly.

Kenshin stood, blinking in the dust.

"Ayame? Suzume? Are you alright?"

"Uncle Ken! Close your eyes!" cried Ayame. "We're in the bathtub!"

"Close your eyes! Close your eyes!" Suzume shrieked.

"Oro?" Kenshin quickly did as he was bidden, slapping his hand across his face. "What happened? Who was screaming?"

"Soap in my eyes!" came Suzume's voice.

"Soap? Again?" Kenshin groaned. That was the second time today that soap had caused trouble. Maybe he should boycott soap for a while.

"We're getting out now," Ayame warned.

Kenshin stumbled to the other side of the bathhouse and waited for the girls to emerge from around the corner. They were wrapped in white towels as they padded out, both of them looking at him solemnly.

"Miss Kaoru will be mad," Ayame said, pulling a splinter from her hair. Suzume just stared at him with big tear-stained eyes.

"Yes, that she will be." Kenshin said ruefully, taking one more look at the nonexistent door.

The girls went inside and while Kenshin dug around in the closet for something clean for them to wear, he heard a crash in the kitchen. Stomping down the hall, he called out in a threatening voice, "This one is getting annoyed, that he certainly is!"

When he slid open the shoji door, Ayame let out a little shriek and pointed at Suzume, who pointed back at Ayame. On the floor between them was a shattered sake jug.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kenshin shooed them out of the kitchen, steering them past the shards. "You're too young for such things, that you are."

"B-b-but, Uncle Ken!" gasped Ayame. "It wasn't us, really, it was-"

"Ayame…"

He led them to the training room and shook a finger at them. "Now you stay here. And put these on." He gave them each a hakama uniform that he had found in the closet. This one will be back, but…just…don't move!" They both looked down at the floor sheepishly.

"Alright, Uncle Ken," said Ayame.

"Awight, Uncle Ken," said Suzume.

He hurried to the kitchen, wanting to get back to the training room before they did something else they weren't supposed to do. He swept up the broken pieces into a small pan and got a cloth to soak up the sake. He was about to wash the cloth out, but on second thought, he put it in his mouth and sucked on it. He needed a drink.

When he was finished, he made his way to the training room. There was a thumping noise, then a muffled scream. He slid open the door, bracing himself for another mess.

"Now what are you-" He stopped short when he saw a black masked man holding a girl under each arm. They were gagged as they struggled against his grip, kicking and hitting wildly. When the man saw Kenshin, he smiled and staggered towards the door, preparing to knock him out of the way by sheer force.

It was such a pathetic offensive. Kenshin could have dodged it in his sleep.

"HYAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Kenshin jumped into the air, his sakabatou whistling in the air above him. "Hiten Mitsurugi Style…Ryukansen!"

Then it happened. The black masked man threw a crying Suzume into the air--right into the path of Kenshin's sakabatou. Stiffening his muscles, he brought his attack to an immediate halt, attempting to catch her as they both fell through the air. But he suddenly felt the wind knocked out of him as a heavy fist came smashing into his chest. Kenshin saw the man barely have enough time to reach out and grab Suzume before she hit the ground.

As he lay on the floor, reaching again for his sakabatou, he heard the man mutter, in slurred words, "Hmph…idiot apprentice."

"Master?" Kenshin gasped in disbelief.

Hiko laughed drunkenly as he gently placed Ayame and Suzume down, whipping off his mask.

"Yes…it is I!" he cried grandly. "Hiko Seijuro, the thirteenth master of the Hiten Mitsurugi Style, come to check on my stupid apprentice!"

"Oro?"

"Don't look so surprised!" Hiko said in such a jovial way, that Kenshin instinctively gathered the girls close to him, eyeing his intoxicated master warily. "I was only checking on your skills…which I found lacking, by the way." Instantly, all amusement was gone from his face as he frowned at Kenshin. "I am very disappointed in you. When I came to Tokyo and began to stir up trouble, I had expected you to show up and take the situation in hand. But no! Instead, some bird-headed freak comes and tries to take me out with nothing but his fists!" Hiko smirked. "Well…let's just say he'll think twice before doing that again! And then I come here to steal some sake, but when that didn't work, I figured I might as well try a little experiment. With the help of these two young ladies…" he gestured at Ayame and Suzume. "I was able to see you in action." He twisted up his face into a thinking expression. "Now let me see. I have thoroughly gauged your abilities and…you're a FAILURE!"

Kenshin looked down at the still-gagged girls, who both, to his surprise, smiled through the cloths in their mouths. He quickly unbound them, watching as Hiko did a small jig, singing a song at the top of his lungs. "Sake, sake, drink the sake, drink the sakeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…you will be number one in the world…"

"Let's do that again!" Ayame said happily, clapping her hands.

"Again! Again! Wheeeeeeee!" said Suzume.

Kenshin had never felt more flabbergasted in his life. He just had to say it again; it always made him feel better. "Oro?"

Hiko let out a loud contented belch. "Ah yes…I have had enough excitement to last me a whole lifetime. Time to go sit on my butt and make some more pots. Sayonara!" He waved after them as he stumbled through the dojo doors.

"Bye!" said Ayame, waving her little hand back.

"Bye-bye, sake," Suzume called after him. "Bye-bye!"

"Alright, Suzume," Kenshin said, quickly escorting them back into the dojo. "Let's go inside now. No more sake."

As the girls skipped around the training room, Kenshin sat down and leaned against the wall, his heart still pounding from the ordeal. He knew he should be calm by now, but he justified himself with how many things there had been to unnerve him.

One, he had overlooked any possibility of anybody kidnapping the girls. True, it had turned out to be his inebriated master, who had ultimately meant no harm, but still…

_What kind of a rurouni is this one? _he thought dejectedly. _Can't even protect two little girls this one is in the same dojo with._ _Heck, this one can't even seem to keep them out of trouble. _

Two, he had nearly smashed into Suzume with his sakabatou during his Ryukansen. He really cringed at this one. That was just too close to breaking his vow, even if he hadn't actually…

His stomach lurched in horror. _This one can't even allow himself to imagine what would have happened! _

Three…Hiko's uncharacteristic display. Uncharacteristic? It was absolutely unheard of! Coming to Tokyo was strange enough. His master was a typical recluse, who kept to himself and was a silent jerk to everyone else in the world. But the thought of him coming to visit Kenshin…well, "visit" wasn't the correct term. The thought of him coming to Tokyo to test Kenshin's skills? Kenshin would have deemed the idea out of the question had it not come from Hiko's own sake-fragrant mouth.

And trying to kidnap the girls to test Kenshin's reaction! Why couldn't have he just challenged him to a duel or something easier like that? And since when had Hiko become so concerned for his apprentice?

And then there was that jig and sake ditty in the courtyard. Kenshin preferred not to dwell on that. Yup, there was no doubt about it.

Hiko had finally cracked.

_Must be all those years of sake drinking. _Kenshin concluded. _Maybe this one should just stick to tea, like Aoshi. He seems relatively sane. _

And that concluded why he had every right to feel shaken up and…what was this? A drooping of his eyelids? A deepening of his breathing? A calm feeling of dimness surrounding him?

No!

He shook himself abruptly, feeling shocked. He had nearly been asleep! Miss Kaoru's warning was being fulfilled! He was actually feeling…dare he say it? Tired!

And when he looked out the opened shoji door, he saw that it was only the beginnings of evening. The sun was just starting to set. Ayame and Suzume would still be up for a few more hours.

At the moment, they were staring at him expectantly.

"Pway, Uncle Ken?" Suzume asked.

"Play? Play what?" he asked, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Wanna go wheeee!" cried Suzume, twirling around in circles, her arms in the air. She tugged at his arm. "Come on, Uncle Ken!"

"Me too, Uncle Ken?" asked Ayame.

He looked from one to another, as they gazed at him with pathetic pleading expressions. He was feeling tired, as much as he hated to admit it, and what Suzume was asking of him seemed like something exhausting. But as she looked at him with those large brown eyes, full of hope…

Perhaps he did owe her something, since he had nearly hit her with his sakabatou.

He sighed. "Fine."

The girls cheered as he slowly stood up and stretched. Suzume yanked on his gi. "Me first! Me first!"

He had to smile when she giggled happily as he took her arms and swung her in a circle in the air. When he plopped her down on the ground, Ayame pounced on him. "Me next!"

Kenshin swung her around, and she laughed breathlessly, giving him a hug after he set her on the ground.

"I love you, Uncle Ken," she murmured, holding him tight. Suzume toddled up and wrapped her little arms around him as far as she could.

"I wuv you, Uncle Ken," she said.

Now, how could he say no to that, even if they did plead with him to swing them around many more times? But eventually his arms, conditioned as they were for Hiten Mitsurugi style fighting, were feeling rather weary by the time he had finished swinging Ayame around for the twenty-fifth time. That was fifty swings, twenty-five per girl. If he had needed a workout lately, they had provided it for him.

"I'm hungry," Ayame told him as he set her down.

"Hungwy!" agreed Suzume.

"Of course," he said resignedly as he led them to the kitchen. "But no getting into the sake this time!"

He fixed them a quick meal of rice and leftover fish from the day before, feeling himself become more and more tired. What was wrong with him? Surely he wasn't losing his edge! Was he really in danger of being drained of his stamina, as Hiko was obviously convinced of?

As he thoughtfully ate his rice and fish, Ayame and Suzume wolfed theirs down. They were finished much longer before he was. They fidgeted impatiently. But as he caught their eager glances, he quickly finished his meal, feeling obligated to do so. As soon as the last grain of rice disappeared into his mouth, they lost no time in climbing on him.

"What can we do now?" Ayame asked, leaning on his leg as he sat.

"What now? What now?" said Suzume, clinging to his back.

He looked out the door and saw the evening beginning to come to invade the sky. It was getting darker. But not dark enough. They wouldn't want to go to sleep for a little while longer. And now a challenging question posed itself: what to do in the meantime?

"Hmm…" He stood, gathering the bowls and chopsticks before he went into the kitchen. "You probably don't want to go to bed, do you?"

"No!" they cried in unison, with great gusto.

"This one thought as much." He stood on the platform of the dojo, surveying the courtyard. What could he occupy them with until bedtime?

With the girls trailing behind him, he went to the shed that Miss Kaoru had first locked him into when he had accidentally…Well, he didn't like to ponder that either.

As he dug through the shed, which had gradually become unorganized as time went by, he found what he had been looking for. A box of different colored paints, imported from the West.

Miss Kaoru had bought them on a whim, when she had considered taking up painting as a hobby. But when she had discovered that she had no talent in that direction what-so-ever, she had angrily stuffed them into a box full of extra uniforms. She had been trying to paint of a picture of Kenshin, posed in a fighting stance. His muscles had grown stiff as he stood there for three hours, with Kaoru shouting irritably at him every time he would shake out his arms to get circulation running through them again. When she had eventually finished, Sano had said that it looked like a red-haired bird trying to fight off a worm. That whole incident had ended with a very paint-splotched Sano, a sore-armed Kenshin, and an outraged Kaoru. She would have hurdled the paints against the wall had Kenshin not gently reminded her of how much they had cost.

So they had been placed in this box, never to be used by Miss Kaoru again. But that didn't mean that they were unfit for two little girls who needed something to entertain them for a while.

They shouted with approval when he came out of the shed, bearing them triumphantly in one hand, a stack of paper in the other.

Inside the dojo, they lost no time in taking out the paints, fingering each of the bottles in wonder as they placed them on the floor. Kenshin brought out two bowls of water so that they could wet their brushes and they set to work right away.

Ayame first painted a picture of Kenshin standing by the bathhouse, a sad look on his face as Kaoru screamed at him, her mouth open into a large angry "O". He first laughed when she held it up for his approval, then stopped when he realized that the picture was probably going to prove to be very accurate.

Suzume's picture was mostly swirls and unidentifiable shapes in various colors. Some of the paint had splattered into her hair and onto her face, but Kenshin decided that he would deal with it later. He wanted to avoid another ordeal that would involve soap.

As the girls happily painted, he again slumped against the wall, watching them contentedly. It had been a pretty good day, even with a few of its mishaps. At least he hadn't gotten seriously injured, which was pretty significant these days. If he could go through a week without being slashed at with a sword, he considered himself fortunate.

And Ayame had become her sweet self again. And he knew Miss Kaoru would understand when he explained about the bathhouse door. And it had been kind of nice to see his master again, in an odd sort of way. And Sano would eventually get over his injuries, especially if he got Miss Megumi to tend him.

Yes, it had been a pretty good day, that it had…

"Uncle Ken! Uncle Ken, look!" He felt a little hand shaking his shoulder.

He sat up with a start, realizing he had nodded off again. He blinked groggily and

looked at Ayame. "Oro?"

"Look, Uncle Ken!" She shoved a small mirror into his hands. He held it up to his face and gasped.

His cross-shaped scar was dripping with purple liquid. It ran down his cheek and onto his neck. He touched the scar gingerly, staring at it in apprehension. What could this mean? Was it because he had nearly failed in rescuing the girls that day? Or did it have to do with Hiko's sudden reappearance and bizarre behavior? The scar had not bled since…

He suddenly felt sick. He had done something wrong. What could it have been? He had protected the girls as best he could. Surely no more could be demanded from him? Maybe it was something else.

Of course! Hadn't he turned Battousai just earlier that afternoon? Even if it was only for a few seconds, he had still slipped into it. And Sano! He had left Sano to face Hiko alone! And now his scar was bleeding this purple stuff, to warn him!

He shot to his feet, and when he looked at his face again in the mirror, it was as pale as white rice, the purple blood matching the color of his worried eyes. He strode into the dark courtyard, not knowing exactly what he was intending to do. But he had to do something!

"Uncle Ken, where you going?" Ayame said as she trotted beside him.

He looked down at Ayame and Suzume, feeling torn. He had to go…save someone or something. But how could he do that with two little girls in tow? And in the dark streets?

Pacing wildly in front of the unopened dojo doors, he thought of his options. He could take them to Miss Megumi. Well, that may not be a good idea, especially since Sano was probably there getting his wounds treated. Or maybe the Akabeko was still open and Tsubame could watch them. But she probably needed to go home soon and he didn't know how long this rescuing business could take. Scratch that idea.

Or he could wait until Miss Kaoru returned, but he didn't know when that would be.

He slumped against the doors, gripping his sakabatou tightly, taking deep breaths. He had to get control of himself, even if he felt as if he would burst with anxiety. Ayame and Suzume stared at him with wide eyes, obviously wondering what was wrong with their Uncle Ken.

He touched his scarred cheek again and rubbed the purple blood between his fingers. Strangely, it didn't really feel like blood. It had a powdery feeling to it. And when he brought it to his nose and took a sniff, he realized it didn't smell like blood either. In fact, it smelled a lot like-

"Pwetty!" said Suzume, waving her paintbrush at him. "Pwetty pu-ple!"

Ayame giggled. "It's really pretty, Uncle Ken! It goes with your pink gi."

"Ayame, what is this?" he asked, kneeling down so that he was on her level. "And this one's gi is _not _pink!" he added firmly.

She looked down at her feet and handed him her paintbrush, which was stained with purple paint. Suzume trotted over to him and began smearing her brush against his other cheek, chortling delightedly. "Pu-ple! Pu-ple!"

He let out a breathy laugh as relief poured over him like a splash of cold water. Ayame joined in with the merriment, laughing as she touched his cheek and drew a cross-shape on her face. "See? We match! I'm just like you!"

She held an invisible sword in her hand and got a serious look on her face as she spun around. "Miten Hitsirigi Style!" She came down with her little fists, still holding the invisible sword. "Oro?" she said with a dumbfounded smile.

Kenshin was nearly doubled over as he laughed, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Now, now, Ayame," he panted breathlessly, wiping both paint and tears from his face. "If you go home and start using this one's technique, your grandfather will never allow this one to watch you again!"

Ayame quickly dropped her fighting stance and ran to him, embracing him tightly. "Then I'll stop," she whispered. "I want you to always be with us, Uncle Ken."

"Me too!" Suzume followed suit and hugged his neck.

Kenshin said nothing as he stroked their heads, feeling foolish as those tears started up in his eyes again. Who would have ever guessed that the hitokiri Battousai would ever be loved by children such as these? Even though his scar still remained, he knew that in his heart, he had already found a piece of the redemption he had been longing for when he had begun to wander ten years ago, a haunted man with only painful memories and a sakabatou as company.

As he gathered up blankets for them to sleep on that night, Ayame painted one last picture, this time showing Kenshin and Kaoru holding hands under a moonlit sky. He could actually feel himself blush as he hastily put that one at the bottom of the stack of paintings.

"You have quite the imagination, that you do," he said, tickling her. She only laughed mischievously as she lay down on her makeshift bed.

Suzume was sleepily rubbing her eyes as she snuggled down on her blankets. But when Kenshin started to blow out the candles, she quickly sat up.

"Wait!" she said, jumping to her feet. She padded over to him and bounced up and down. "Wheee!"

"But aren't you tired?" he asked.

"No! Go wheeee!" insisted Suzume.

"Me too, Uncle Ken!" said Ayame, running towards him. "Just one last time? Please?"

Again, he was taken in by their adorable imploring looks they gave him with their big eyes. Seeing that he had no alternative, he took Suzume by her arms and swung her around and around in a circle.

"Wheeeee!" she cried out in glee.

Ayame was heavier than Suzume, and he could again feel his arms getting tired when he swung them both around a second time.

"No more," he declared with a smile, leading them to their beds. "Time for sleep."

Both of them obediently lay down and pulled the blankets up to their chins, already beginning to yawn.

"Stay here, Uncle Ken," said Ayame when he began inching towards the door. "Stay until we go to asleep!"

"Stay!" Suzume said, waving at him to come back.

Kenshin dutifully settled down in the space between the two of them, resting his hands on his head. He listened as their breathing became deep and rhythmic, and began to feel his own eyelids droop. But he let himself slowly sink into sleep, now understanding why he had been feeling so tired that day. It wasn't because his body was weary or that he was losing his skill. He was at peace in his heart, finding delight in the simple things, like lying beside two little girls who were convinced that he was the greatest uncle in the world. And that thought gave him such tranquility of soul, he could at last begin to allow himself to finally lay down his wanderer's burden.

He smiled as he felt Suzume's arms hug him closer and he drew his arm around her. Ayame did the same, nestling in the crook of his other arm.

_Is this what being a father is like? _he thought absently as he began to fall asleep, feeling the warmth of their breath on his shoulders. _This one wonders if Miss Kaoru will notice that picture at the bottom of the pile…_

Kaoru quietly slid the door open and grinned when she saw Ayame and Suzume fast asleep, with Kenshin lying between them. Tiptoeing softly, she took the lone candle that was burning on the table and lifted it above their sleeping faces. The girls looked content and serene as they slept, snuggled close to Kenshin, his arms wrapped around each of them. Was that purple paint on his face?

Shrugging to herself, she padded towards the door. But she stopped when she heard a little voice begin to murmur. "Sake…sake…drink the sake…"

Kaoru turned around and saw Suzume smiling in her slumber. "…you will be number one…" her sing-song voice drifted off.

Kaoru shook her head. _I'll have to ask about that one tomorrow._ But again, she stopped when her foot brushed against a pile of crinkled papers that were stacked near the door. Placing the candle on the floor, she sat down and flipped through them, examining each of the girls' paintings in the faint light. But when she got to the last one, she paused, smiling to herself as she felt her cheeks turn pink. Then she turned and looked towards Kenshin, his purple-speckled face so peaceful as he slept with the girls at his side.

He'll make a good father someday she thought, holding the paper close. I hope he noticed this picture… 


End file.
